The LSU and Ohio State football teams arrived in town Wednesday, with the BCS title game five days away and the story line from the 2007 game still threading through the discussion.

That is, is the Southeastern Conference simply better and faster than the Big Ten? Will No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) find itself fruitlessly chasing purple and gold uniforms Monday night?

The heart of the conversation -- conference superiority -- is as old as pigskin. Every January, teams from the Big Ten and the SEC square off in bowl games, and every year a somewhat civil war breaks out among the fans of the country's premier northern and southern collection of teams.

Until last season.

Undefeated Ohio State had been No. 1 from wire to wire, but was embarrassed by Florida in the BCS championship game. The final score, 41-14, was so lopsided that the decades-old debate about conference rankings seemed settled.

The SEC, according to the new mantra, is filled with swifter, better athletes than the Big Ten. The argument gained further credence because Southern Cal also thrashed the Big Ten's No. 2 team in 2006, Michigan, in the Rose Bowl.

About the only people who don't seem to buy this wisdom are the players and coaches at Ohio State and LSU.

"No, I don't buy this speed gap thing at all," said LSU Coach Les Miles, who has noted he would put his sophomore speedster Trindon Holliday against any single Buckeye but not gamble beyond that matchup. "It might have been true last year, I don't know, but when you watch the tapes of this team you don't see it."

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said it must mean something that the NFL continues to pluck Buckeyes talent. In the past seven years the pros have drafted 59 Ohio State players, and it seems unlikely all of them were slow, Tressel noted.

"I think if you look at what people who really know the game say, the coaches and the staff in the NFL, it would show they respect our speed," Tressel said.

Conference superiority has cycled through the years, with the Big Ten, the SEC, the Pac-10 and what is now the Big 12 enjoying periods of dominance. But the teams that now comprise the SEC hold the best overall bowl record, statistics show.

Through last season, SEC teams had played in 352 bowl games and won 177 of them, a winning percentage of .522. The Big Ten's 11 teams amassed a .498 winning percentage with a 111-112 mark in 226 bowls. The overall total of bowls is skewed, because for many years the Big Ten only permitted its champion to play in the Rose Bowl.

The SEC is even better when facing Big Ten teams. There the SEC entered this season with a 63-45-2 mark, a .582 percentage.

But the picture grows more ambiguous with probing. Ohio State, one of the few schools that has a speed coach on its payroll, former track star Butch Reynolds, is 0-8 against SEC teams in bowl games.

Miles dismissed that figure, too. "It means nothing," Miles said. "This is just the next game."

And if the all-time record favors the SEC, more recent history gives a narrow edge to the Big Ten. In the 10 years prior to this bowl season, the Big Ten led the SEC 8-7 in bowl games. Now the record stands at 9-8 with Michigan beating Florida and Tennessee beating Wisconsin on Jan. 1.

Miles cited that Michigan game as proof no one at LSU is assuming they hold a decided advantage. The Wolverines gained less than 100 yards at home against Ohio State, but racked up more than five times that against the Gators in Orlando, Fla.

"I think it shows you very comfortably that the Big Ten conference is a quality conference, and that the finest teams in that league can beat the finest teams in the country," he said. "I think our guys understand that this is a brand new year, and that this is about two teams playing and not necessarily reflective of any history."

Hartline and several other Buckeyes, echoing a line heard around the LSU football complex, argued anyone playing major college football on scholarship has probably got some wheels. And if they are playing for conference champions of the Big Ten or the SEC, those wheels are probably better than average.

"They're a very good football team," senior defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey said. "It's a team that plays hard, has a great running game and a great passing game. It looks like we're pretty evenly matched to me, and I don't believe in all that media stuff."

Miles and the Tigers spoke after receiving a tumultuous welcome from about 200 fans outside the Marriott Hotel on Canal Street. The LSU bus caravan pulled up around 5 p.m., and the players, several wearing beads thrown by Jacob Hester's wife, Katie, were greeted by cheers and band music.

Senior safety Craig Steltz, who prepped at Rummel, said he remains amazed that after watching from the Superdome stands as his brother, Kevin, played Oklahoma in the 2003 BCS championship game, he will experience that also.

"Hey, it's going to be a tremendous game, and to have the opportunity to come back and play in the hometown in front of your family and friends," he said. "We couldn't ask for anything else, and we're going to play our best game."

A smaller but still palpable buzz greeted Ohio State earlier in the morning when they checked in to the Riverside Hilton. Tressel did not revisit the issue of speed and comparative conference talents, but he did refer in passing to the Jan. 1 bowl games.

"Watching the games yesterday got my blood stirring," he said. "You watch all of the pageantry and all of the great games and all of the kids having tremendous experiences. Then the feel of New Orleans when landing here -- seeing how excited they are being able to host a successful Sugar Bowl, and now the title game. You can tell it is making a difference in this community."

Just how much a difference the players might make in the local economy remains an open question. Although both coaches talk about how an experience like the BCS game is a reward to the players for their months of labor, both also seem more preoccupied with football.

LSU had a 1 a.m. curfew Wednesday night; Tressel said the seniors set the curfew, and he was not sure when the Buckeyes were due in their rooms.

"They're making themselves pretty accountable, and I'm counting on them getting plenty of rest," he said.

As the game approaches, curfews for both teams will come earlier, but Miles said given Ohio State's comparative unfamiliarity with New Orleans, he encouraged the Buckeyes to spend considerable time exploring the city's charms. For example, if Tressel would like to have a boozy French Quarter party for his team over the weekend, Miles said he would be happy to pick up the tab.